02-09-2009, 02:03 AM
tob04002,
maghunter's and redleech's advice is great advice. I use similar techniques with good success. Study their info and pay attention to detail.
To add to their advice don't stay put in one spot if you haven't caught any thing within an hour or two. Check with others on the ice and find someone who is catching fish and then inquire as to why. Most ice fisherman are willing to share what they are doing to catch fish.
I can't stress enough how important it is to get your lure back down into the kokanee as fast as you can after catching a fish. Last Saturday the kokanee schools were spotty and small in number and gone in 2 to 5 minutes and then an hour or two wait for the next school. We had to quickly unhook a fish and get the lure down before the fish had moved on and were gone.
Whether fishing for perch or kokanee or trout, jigging your bait up and down several inches every several seconds attracts more fish to bite. Perch can be curious at times. Sometimes they will only hit if you jig the bait, other times they won'y bite your bait while jigging but only after you move it up and down and then let it sit still for two or three seconds.
Finally I had a friend that taught me something very valuable for ice fishing. It was that most of the time fish are either on bottom or in a zone 8 to 12 feet down under the ice, sometimes near the 20 foot zone. This holds true most of the time according to my depth/fish finder. You will catch more fish if you get your bait or lure in front of the fish's nose. On the side of my ice sled that I carry all of my gear in, I have measured and marked off one foot increments. If my depth finder shows fish at 12 feet down, I quickly measure off 12 feet of line plus several inches for thickness of ice and hurry and drop the bait down the hole. For perch or bottom hugging trout just drop the bait right to bottom and reel a few inches up until your line is taught. Good luck.
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maghunter's and redleech's advice is great advice. I use similar techniques with good success. Study their info and pay attention to detail.
To add to their advice don't stay put in one spot if you haven't caught any thing within an hour or two. Check with others on the ice and find someone who is catching fish and then inquire as to why. Most ice fisherman are willing to share what they are doing to catch fish.
I can't stress enough how important it is to get your lure back down into the kokanee as fast as you can after catching a fish. Last Saturday the kokanee schools were spotty and small in number and gone in 2 to 5 minutes and then an hour or two wait for the next school. We had to quickly unhook a fish and get the lure down before the fish had moved on and were gone.
Whether fishing for perch or kokanee or trout, jigging your bait up and down several inches every several seconds attracts more fish to bite. Perch can be curious at times. Sometimes they will only hit if you jig the bait, other times they won'y bite your bait while jigging but only after you move it up and down and then let it sit still for two or three seconds.
Finally I had a friend that taught me something very valuable for ice fishing. It was that most of the time fish are either on bottom or in a zone 8 to 12 feet down under the ice, sometimes near the 20 foot zone. This holds true most of the time according to my depth/fish finder. You will catch more fish if you get your bait or lure in front of the fish's nose. On the side of my ice sled that I carry all of my gear in, I have measured and marked off one foot increments. If my depth finder shows fish at 12 feet down, I quickly measure off 12 feet of line plus several inches for thickness of ice and hurry and drop the bait down the hole. For perch or bottom hugging trout just drop the bait right to bottom and reel a few inches up until your line is taught. Good luck.
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